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TRAINING & EDUCATION

Our global medical leadership teams design and deliver hands-on education programmes to train thousands of local medical professionals, so they can provide treatment within their own communities and share their expertise.

"Training and education isn’t just something we do — It’s at the heart of everything we do. It happens on every engagement through the exchange of ideas among our medical specialists from diverse backgrounds with varied levels of expertise. Together we have the same goal: improve how surgical care is delivered while empowering local communities.”

Since 2006, Operation Smile has partnered with Jimma University Specialized Hospital in the southwest region of Oromia, Ethiopia to establish a plastic surgery department and training programme. In this video, Mr Per Hall, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and long-standing UK volunteer, shows how this project will sustainably build the local surgical and overall medical capacity in Jimma.

71%

of medical professionals who volunteered with Operation Smile in 2014 were from low- and middle-income countries

93%

of medical volunteers say their involvement with Operation Smile provides them with a unique educational experience and helps strengthen the surgical capacity of their local community

"Volunteering with Operation Smile has helped me design new paradigms in speech interventions that are appropriate to my community. Volunteering has strengthened my belief that speech pathology is not just a profession but an opportunity to advocate for the inclusion of families, neighbours and peers in the surgical intervention process.”